Sandhyavandanam -5

We saw that the first seven stages of Sandhyavandanam were only preparatory and the important aspects starts with “arghya pradaanam” where we throw water in the direction of the sun after chanting pranava, vyakrithi and gayatri. The Mandeha rakshanas did severe penance and wishing to attack the sun god especially during the sandhya times. Prajathi had no recourse but to accede to them. So to save Aditya when noble people chant gayatri and throw the waters those become vajram weapon. They throw away the rakshasas into a dweepa, an island, called Mandeharuni dweepa. They come again the next day and so the seeker also must do the arghya pradaanam to keep them away from harming the sun. There is the story part but there is a philosophical significance also. Here the mandeha asuras represent the asuras within the individual in the form of deha abhimana (body consciousness) in the form of kama, krodha, mada etc. There are thousands of negative thoughts in the mind. This alone is described in the 16^th chapter of the Gita as Asureem Sampath. And the surya devata represents the athma within. Swayam Prakashah Suryah and Swayam Prakashah Athma. Because of deha abhimana and its consequent asurum vruthi the athma is attacked as it were, destroyed as it were. Destroying the athma is covering the athma from our vision, because when something is covered it is as good as destroyed. Therefore arghyam is done to remove the deha abhimana (body consciousness) and deha abhimanam is supposed to be more at the time of sandhya. During dawn and dusk one feels this body conscious more. So philosophically would mean that doing argyam with gayatri will remove the deha abhimana so that athma is not covered. This is the arghya pradaanam part.

            Now we will go to the nineth part called “Sandhyopaasanam” or “Abheda Dhyanam”. As the name suggests it is meditating on Sandhya Devi. We have already seen Sandhya Devi as Ishwari. Any upaasanam is done in two different ways – in bheda upaasam we meditate on the Lord as though HE/SHE is different. In fact most of the worship is bheda only. When we worship Rama or Krishna or Ganapathy we see them as different from us. When you meditate outside you always take a God as though outside. But we know from Vedantic teaching that the Lord is not different from me, so to train the mind of the seeker the scriptures themselves prescribe “abheda upaasam” as a higher state. Here we don’t invoke the Lord anywhere but I invoke the lord in myself. And I see “I” and the “lord” to be one and the same. Only after this upasaadam one is introduce to Vedantic knowledge, Vedantic vichara. What is the difference between “abheda upaasam” and “abheda jnanam”. In the former I see the oneness with the Lord only as an imagination. At this stage there is no enquiry, no understanding, it is a mere imagination. Much like imagining a stone to be Vishnu and worshipped, so why can’t I be imagined as Vishnu who is slightly better than stone. While in Vedanta after a thorough enquiry we come to discover that “I am God is not an invocation, it is not an imagination” but it is a statement of a fact. When it is converted into a fact it becomes jnanam, when it is imagination it is upaasanam. Suppose a person dwells on this fact after gaining jnanam then it is “nidhidyasanam”. So dwelling after understanding is nidhidyasnam while imagining is upaasanam. For ignorant abeda is upaasanam, while for jnanis it is nidhidyasanam. Therefore Sandhya Upaasanam can function in two different ways. For those who do SV after exposure to Vedantic teaching it will abheda nidhidyasanam, while for those with no training on Vedanta the ritual becomes abheda upaasanam. The mantras here is Asaavaadityo brahma – brahmaiya-aham-asmi. The sun represents Ishwara or Brahman. And “I” represent the jiva, the individual. That sun is Brahman and this is not something far away tat-brahman-aham-asmi. You may ask that the reference is with respect to Brahman and why do you call it “Sandhyopaasanam”. Remember Sandhya and Brahman are one and the same. This is based on the famous Taitreya Upanishad mantra Sayascha ya purushe, yasya va aditye sayakah – the difference between them is just superficial only but essentially they are Brahman. So for an ignorant person not initiated into Vedanta he can imagine himself to be Sandhya Devi. While saying this mantra they touch the heart with both the hands indicating the chaitanyam (hrudaya kruta chaitanyam). This is the nineth stage “sandhyapaasanam” or “abheda upaasanam”. Why this is important? Because this is the ultimate goal of life for all human beings.

            Then comes the tenth and the final item “adityadi tharpanam”. In this tharpanam is done by offering waters because that is the easiest and cheapest. Tharpanam literally means “pleasing” and “to make someone happy”. That’s why we perform pitru tharpanam or aditya tharpanam or amavasya tharpanam to please them. In Sandhyavandanam (SV) we have nine offering to the nine grahas. Aadityam tharpayaami, somam tharpayaami, angaarakam tharpayaami, budham tharpayaami, bruhaspatim tarpayaami, shukram tarpayaami, shanaishcharam tarpayaami, raahum tharpayaami, and ketum tharpayaami. This is navagraha prarthana, the worship of navagrahas. There are some byproduct benefits; if there are any graha doshas it will go away for the regular practitioner of SV. This is also an appreciation of totality. We mostly live as a frog in the well with our mind on our work, family, children, our neighbourhood etc. This is an opportunity to remember the solar system and how these planets contribute to our survival thus serving as an expansion of our vision. After navagraha tharpanam we do the tharpanam of the Lord in this twelve forms. Keshavam tharpayaami, narayanam tharpayaami etc; the 12 names of Vishnu are uttered. Most of the prayers are directed to Vishnu as HE is the protector deity. Here also we seek the protection and blessings of the lord by uttering these names. With this navagraha and Ishwara tharpanam the first part of Sandhyavandam is concluded. This is the purva angam of the SV. This is generally done in the room nowadays, before this was performed in the river and performed immediately after one’s bath. Besides there you can offer plenty of water and from both hands! In the house you have use a panja patram and odarani and be careful not to spill water beyond the patram. In the olden days after bath they perform the purva angam and come to the house or temple only for the japa part. That is why in many books the mantras for the asanam is given at the end of purva angam; while in modern books they give it at the start. Now we don’t have rivers or tanks, if you go to Mylapore tank the kids are playing cricket there. …(laughs). Or who can do SV in Coovam, so you must do SV at the home itself.

            Now we are entering the second part of Sandhyavandanam called “Gayatri japa” or “uttarangam”. This must be done in a secluded and sacred place as in a temple or a quiet corner of the house which is used for puja etc. This second anga also has ten divisions. The first four are common as in the purva angam. …asanam & achamanam, vigneshwara dhyanam, pranayama and sankalpah. Therefore I am not explaining them. In Sankalpah there will be difference; praatah sandhya Gayatri Maha mantra-japam karishye; maadhyahnika-gayatri maha mantra-japam karishye, or saayam sandhyaa-gayatri mahaa mantra-japam karishye according to the time.

            The fifth stage is the pranayamaha. This we did at the start of the gayatri japa, doing it once is called “prayaschita pranayama”. But in the fifth stage of the gayatri japa the pranayama has to be done thrice or ten times. If you do breathing and japa then do it thrice but if you only chant the mantra then do it 10 times. For the young, old, and sick person only chanting is recommended (no breathing). But if the person wants to include the breathing part then he has to poorakam is filling up the lungs that is deep inhalation, kumbakam is retaining the air for some time and rachakam is exhalation. Breathe in through the left nostril and exhale through the right nostril by keeping your fingers in a particular shape (two fingers of the right hand at left and the thumb to the right side of the nose). Pranayama is a big Science by itself involving surya nadi, chandra nadi, nadi shudi, antakaran shudi etc. When breathing is combined with chanting it is “sagarba pranayama”. We chant so as to dilute our deha abhimanam (body consciousness); it like taking an antibiotic and B-complex side by side! You take care of your health but your body should not become an obsession for you. The first part of pranayam (upto Om Satyam) is purvakam, Gayatri part is kumbakam and Om aapo jyteeraso up to bhoor-bhuvas-suvarom om is rachakam. I discussed about Vyakriti, Gayatri, and Gayatri Shiras in the earlier talks, you can refer to your notes or memory….whichever is stronger! When we are doing pranayam the outgoing breath is coming in contact with the hand and it is considered to become impure. By touching the right ear the hand is purified for it is believed that Ganga resides in the right ear. That is one belief, another is Gayatri itself is chanted in the right ear when a person is first initiated into japa during upanayanam. In the ceremony the gayatri upadesha is done by the father it is given as a secret in the right ear. So in the right ear both Ganga and Gayatri are there. That’s why when some people yawn they touch their right ear as a sort of purification. If you are not in breathing just chant the pranayama mantra ten times but healthy people are supposed to include breathing also. But before this pranayama mantra we invoke rishis, meter, and devata  pranavasya rushih-brahma, devee gaayatri chandaha, paramaatma devatha. Bhooradi saptavayaahrteenam atri bhrugu kutsa vashishta gautama kaashyapa aangirasa rushayaha. Gayatri ushnig anushtup bruhatee pankti trishtup jagatyah chandaamsi. Agni vayu arka vaageesha varuna indra vishvedevaa devatahaa. There is nothing to explain as these are the names of 7 rishis and 7 devatas and 7 metres (chandas). With this pranayama part is over.

            Next is Gayatri japa. Before Gayatri there are some invocation mantras. The first part is called gayatri aavaahanam. Aayaatu varadaa devee aksharam brahma-sammitam, gayatreem chandasaam maatedam brhama jushasva naha. In this mantra the gayatri devi is invited and installed in the heart. When I say “Gayatri” it means “Sandhya Devi” for Gayatri is one of her many names (Savitri and Saraswati are the other names). This is done in any japa, first we invoke the deity and install it in our heart. Gayatri Aayaatu means may Gayatri come and take her seat in my heart. The rest of the words are her glorification. Varada is one who gives all the boons, if we ask for health or wealth or prosperity or by mistake ask for moksha Gayatri is capable of giving all those. The next is “devi” which is svayum prakasha svarupa, the effulgent goddess. And in scriptural language the “Chitanyam”svarupa. Asksharam brahma-sammitam; Gayatri who is equal to aksharam brahma which is the infinite and imperishable truth. Gayatri is equal to Brahman and who is none other than Brahman(sammitam). Satyam, jnanam, anantham brahma. Another glory is “chandasaam maate” – Gayatri who is the mother of all Vedic mantras. That is what makes Gayatri mantra the most sacred of all mantras. And for what purpose I am inviting you; idam brahma jushasva naha. Here Brahma means stotram, stuthi May you accept our glorification of you. The stotram comes in the next part. There are ojo’si saho’si balamasi bhraajo’si devaanam dhaama naamasi vishvamasi vishvaayuhu sarvamasi sarvaayuhu. The essence of this glorification is “Sandhya Devi, you are everything. You are sarvam.” Ojaha means indriya shakti. You are the power in all the ten sense organs (5 jnanadriyas and 5 karmadriyas) and so you give me “Indriya” shakti. By praising the Goddess in one aspect it means we asking HER to bestow or confer that quality in us. Sahosi means “mental strength” (so give me mental strength to face the ups and downs of life). Balamasi, physical health (I need to have a fit body to even do the spiritual sadhana so give me physical health), then bhrajosi, you are bright, shining one. Then devanam dhama si; you are the abode of gods. From here we get this wonderful idea; once you worship one Sandhya Devi it means you have worshipped all the gods. It is much like cow worship. As all the devatas are in the cow, just worshipping the cow means worshipping all the devatas. Namasi, you are all the names. Why? All names belong to you as all forms belong to you. All this you will appreciate if you know the Vedantic angle. Then Vishwamasi comes which we will see in the next class. Hari Om. 

Sandhyavandanam -4

Now we are seeing the praashana mantras. This varies according to the time of Sandhyavandanam. In the morning we worship Surya, in the form of Ishwara, Manyu, the anger deity and Manyupathaya, the causes of anger like Raga. Dvesha, kama etc.  May all the devatas bless me in such a way that I should not commit these sins in the future. The first part of the mantra is bhavishya paapa nirarthatvam., future sins. The sins done through all the instruments like hands, legs, stomach by way of manasa, vaacha and kayika. Next we pray for removing all the sins done in the recent past, last night. May the deity presiding over the night, raatri devata, destroy all those paapams. Then the remote past pappam is indicated by yat-kincha-duritam mayi, we can take it as sanchita paapam, …duritam means paapam. Whatever paapam I have done including maha paapam let Ishwara remove all of them also. Now all the paapams are removed I am a shudda jivata. Before offering anything to the Lord including naivedyam it is cleansed through proshanam. Similarly in this praasham we offer ourselves to the Lord. Therefore I say Soorye jyotishi juhomi svaaha. I offer myself to surya agnihi or Ishwara agnihi. This can be looked in the vyvaharthika angle as “I dedicate myself to the Lord by following him” or it can be taken in the Vedantic angle as “Abedha Prappthihi” which is Brahman Jnanam. By offering myself what benefit do I get? Amruta yonau….Sun devata is the source of immortality, source of ananda, source of moksha. The word “svaaha” is used to indicate it is yagna. 

            Now we will go to the praashana mantra of the Madhyanam.

Aapah punantu pruthiveem pruthivee poota punaatu maam, punantu brahmanspathihi brhama poota punaatu maam, yad-uchishtam-abhojyam yadvaa dushcharitam mama, sarvam punantu maam – appo (a) sataam cha pratigraha-gg-svaaha.

Like in the morning before chanting this we have to do maarjanam mantra starting from aapovaa idgam sarvam….as I invoke Lord in the water form. Again this is purifying mantra in which I offer myself to the Lord. Which means what? You have not offered yourself in the morning! If you had offered before there should not be a second offering. It is like going to the temple several times. The word for temple is “Aalayaha” – you should not come home but become merged there! It means we keep failing repeatedly by visiting them repeatedly. The purification mantras in the afternoon “Aapah pruthivee punantu” is may the waters in the form of Ishwara purify the earth. In this context pruthivee means sthula shariram. May the Lord purify my physical body and once that is done then it should purify the subtle body. .. pootaa punatu maam. In essence may the Lord purify both my gross and subtle body. Punantu brahmanaspathihi means may the Vedic teacher bless me. So we ask for Ishwara anugraha and now guru anugraha. Poota punaatu maam, may the Vedas also purify me. May the purified Vedas purify me. The scriptures are purified by the teacher. This is done by giving the right meaning and removing all the wrong interpretations. Both Indra and Virochana went to the same guru Vahaspathi, one became a confirmed asura while the other got the right meaning. Therefore purification of the scriptures mean removing the confusion. Now in addition to Ishwara krupa, guru krupa, I also ask for Sastra krupa. From here on I enumerate all the “akramams” I have been doing. I have eaten food “uchchishtam” the food that has been eaten by someone and leftover food. Uchchista anna is supposed to create tamo guna. This will cause dullness of budhi. Often I have taken fresh food but those have been prohibited by the scriptures, fresh garlic! Those will come in “Abhojyam” (Sastra Nishadam). This creates rajo gunam that makes the mind passionate. Either it will produce kama-kroda or it will produce moha. This is tamo-rajo annam despite what medical science says. They may have some benefit to the body like reducing pressure or improving blood but these are prohibited by the shastra (they come with dullness or passion). Even a food that is not offered to the Lord is called “abhojyam”. So one must at least think of the Lord before sitting down to eat. Now the seeker thinks of a list so he includes a general “yadvaa dushcharitam mama”…any paapa karma I have done. There is one more item in the end “asatat prartigraha”, taking anything from an evil person. Meaning taking anything like money, or provision or anything. According to shastra if we take any material from a person then that person character is also transferred to the material. One is a visible transaction and another is an invisible transaction. Imagine you are dining and earning from a materialistic person, then you will also end up becoming materialistic. Religion and spirituality will gradually come away in the company of such a person. This dosa is called “asat pratigraha”. There is problem here: when somebody offer us something we cannot ask them: whether you are good or bad? So if I go to somebody’s house and ask for drinking water, how will I know whether he is good or not. I just pray to the Lord “asat pratrigraha-gg-svaaha”. Therefore may the Lord remove or purify all these pappas. Svaaha means offering oneself to the paramatma.

            Now we will take up the Sayam Praashanam. It is almost similar to the morning mantras but for a few differences.  Agnischa maa manyushcha manyupatayashcha manyukrutebhayaha, paapebhyo raskhantaam yad-ahnaa paapam-akaarsham, In the morning we had had suryaha and now we have “agni”. Suryaha is Ishwara who activates everyone, same is Agni except in the morning God is invoked in surya and in the evening in “agni”. Because surya is the light of the day and agni is the light of the night. Both represent light that is jnana swarupa ishwarah. The rest of the prayers is the same. May the anger and the causes of the anger from future paapams, from the recent past, and the remote and distant past. There is a slight difference. In the morning the recent past meant “previous night” while recent past for the evening prayer is “the present day”. So yad-ahanna (instead of yad-raatri) paapam-akarshanam. So which devata must remove all the sins, not “raatri” devata but “ahur” devata for sins committed during the day. In the morning we offered ourselves to “surya jyotihi” but in the evening we offer ourselves to “satye jyotishi” juhomi svaaha. Satyam stands for Ishwarah.  With this the praashanam part is over.

            Then the seventh item is Punnar Marjaanam. It means sprinkling waters once again. Here the mantras are: dadhikraavinno akaarisham, jishnor-ashvasya vaajinaha, surabhino mukhaa karatu, prana aayoo-g-mshi taarisha. And then Aapo his shthaa mayo-bhuvah….to om bhoor-bhuvah-suvaha as before. These mantras are the glorification of the Lord by invoking the Lord in the waters, dadhikraavinno means the lord who creates and sustains the whole creation. He is the material cause, upadana karana, of creation. The clay creates all the pots and it sustains all the pots. Gold creates all ornaments and sustains. The material cause pervades and sustains the effect. Similarly Ishwara creates and sustains the universe. Another glory of the lord is “jishnor” which means “ever victorious” (this word occurs frequently in Vishnu Sahashranama) Ishwara is never defeated. In every avatara HE fights with the evil forces and HE always wins. This is not a fluke victory like India defeating Pakistan, the LORD wins all the time. That is why the suffix “nor” is added as the victory is consistent and always. HE is the habit of winning. The next glory of the Lord is “ashvasya”. He is the all pervading one (here you should not take the word as horse). And the fourth glory of the Lord is “vaajinaha”. It means is “one who travels very fast.” HE is faster than the mind, HE is faster than the sense-organs. We can take the Puranic angle as when bhaktas are suffering the Lord will at once come to their rescue as shown in Gajendra etc. So I meditate on such a great Lord who glories I have just mentioned. Now that you have sung the praise of the lord, what do you want? He asks for a beautiful boon, Surabhino mukhaa karatu, may my mouth become fragrant. It is not like the scent that is available in the market that you spray in your mouth after eating but it is the fragrance in the form of sweet words. Let me words be sweet, let my words be consoling words and not hurting words, let my words be soft and never harsh, let me have blessing words and not cursing words, let my words be truthful and not untruthful ones, let my words be honest words not hypocritical words, etc. The word “prataarisha” means lengthen, may the Lord give me a long healthy life. All our lives are determined by our prarabdha then what we pray for:  May I have not a “apa mrutyu”. I want a natural death and not an unnatural one. Then aapo hi shthaa we have already seen in the marjaanam earlier. With this the punar maarjaanam is also over.

            Now comes the eighth item called “Arghya Pradaanam”. As I had said earlier upto the seventh item it is preparatory. Only the following three items are mukyam. These are so important that even if a person skips the first seventh he is asked to do the 8^th, 9^th and 10^th. In “arghya pradaanam” handfuls of water is taken, mantras are chanted and it is then thrown in the direction of the sun. This is so important the even if water is not available you can use mud also as transpired during the Mahabharata war. The mantra chanted is the pranava, vyakrithi and gayatri. Pranava is Om, Vyakrithi is Bhoor-bhuvah-suvaha and then Gayatri tat savitur varenyam bhargo devasya dheemahi, dhiyo yo nah prachodayaat. This is done thrice in the morning and evening and twice in the afternoon. After this one is supposed to offer one more arghyam called “praayaschitta arghyam” which is meant for kala adhyayah. This is done if Sandhyavandanam is done at a later or before time, so more like a penitent prayer. There is a Vedic story that tells us the purpose of this arghyam. There were some rakshasa called “mandhaha” who were thirty crores in number. They did penance and asked Brahma the boon to attack surya bhagawan. Brahma had no option but to say “tattatsu”. The mandhahe rakshasas attacked the sun god during sandhya times and trying to swallow him. But we know sun is very important for the survival of earth, of human beings and survival of the devas. So the noble men in the form of devas, rishis and human beings wanted the surya to survive they wanted to resist these attacks. Since they do not have any weapons they converted water into vajra ayutham. By chanting pranava, vyakrithi and gayatri the water is equal to vajra ayutham. Once the mantra is chanted and water is thrown in the direction of the sun, it will not kill the mandhahe rakshasas but it will throw them into an island called mandheahruna dweepah. So this arghya pradaanam is equal to saving the sun. So when any Dwija throws the water after chanting Gayatri then these will throw the rakshasas into that island. After the argyam the prakosha is done “bhoor-bhuvah-suvaha” and all the paapams will go. Therefore arghyam protects surya and by extension protects dharma. More we will see in the next class. Hari Om. 

Sandhyavandanam -3

Now let me elaborate on “Sankalpah” that we saw in the last class. Through the sankalpah we are indicating that Sandhyavandanam is a nishkama karma. Mammopaatta samastha duirta kshya dvaara shree parameshvara (or narayana) preetyartham; I want only the grace of the Lord. What do I want the grace of the Lord to do to me? It has one job and is durita kshyam. Ishwara Anugraha in the form of durita kshyam, papa kshyam, dosa kshyam and chitta samskaram. Refinement of my inner personality.  The sankalpah differs according to the time of Sandhya vandanam, praattah sandhyam upaasishya in the afternoon, maadhyaahnikam upaasishya in the afternoon or saayam sandhyaam upaasishye in the evening. The Sankalpah serves as an auto-suggestion. I am snapping my relation with everything else and I am as though a sanyasi now.

            Now we are coming to the fifth stage, Maarjanam. It literally means “wiping” or “cleansing” and that’s why maarjani is broomstick in Sanskrit. We are going to use a spiritual broomstick to wipe clean the inner mind. In maarjanam we invoke the Lord in the waters. Either the waters flowing in the river, or water flowing in the tank or water flowing in the panja patram or even in “uttadarani”. We invoke the Sandhya devi in the water. Why do we use water? It is easily available and abundant material generally except in Madras! Say if the scriptures had recommended “ghee” then who would do SV as it would too expensive. So no one can give the excuse that water is not available to perform the Sandhyavandanam (SV) ritual. The second reason is water is the basis and source of life. So whenever a scientist wants to find out if there is life in any planet they first check for availability of water. Water is the basic source of life just as Ishwara and therefore it is easier to invoke Ishwara in the water. And the third reason is water is a purifier and use these mantras to do maarjanam for purification. We use water as a external as a symbol for inner purifier. Finally once we invoke Ishwara in the water we develop Ishwara budhi for Jalam. We begin to respect waters as God. So to have virat darshanam or sarvathra ishwarthvam this will help. Don’t take the creation for granted, don’t look down on the creation, LOOK upon the creation as Ishwara Abivyrthi. This will help to mind to see the DIVINIZATION of the world. Such a person who does SV will not pollute waters and he will not be a danger to ecology as he has invoked the Lord in them. So for these four reasons God is invoked in waters.

            Now let take the mantra: aapovaa idagam sarvam vishwa bhootaanyaapaha, praanaavaa-aapaha pashava aapaha, annam-aapaha amrutham-aapaha, samraadaapaha viraadapaha, svaraadaapaha chandaagmsyaapaha, jyoteegmshyaapaha, yajoogmshyaapaha, satyam aaphaa, sarva devataa aapahaa, bhoor-bhuvas-suvar-aapa. The mantra shows aapaha is sarvam. Appaha, water, is Ishwara rupah. Both water and Ishwara are all pervading. .. the animals, insects, plants are all waters. They write Om Sri Kesavaya namaha. After this the maarjanam mantra is chanted and for each mantra water is sprinkled on the forehead. So maarjanam mantra is also called a prokshana mantra. Cleansing mantra or sprinkling mantra! Here nine mantras are there:

Om aapo hi shtthaa mayo-bhuvaha, taa na oorje dadhaatana, mahe ranaaya chakshase, yo vah-shivatamo rasaha, tasya bhaajayaeteha naha, ushateeriva maataraha, tasmaa arangamaama vaha, yasya kshayaaya jinvatha, aapo janayathaa cha naha. 

There is a beautiful slokha which that these nine mantras remove the nine sins. Rajo tamo moha jathan, jagrat, swapna, shusupti jathaan, vak, maya, kaya jathaan doshan nava ethan navabir dhaya. The sins or papas done due to Rajo guna or tamo guna or Moha (you should say Satva here as it does not produce any sin). Between tamo and moha there is a avarana shakti and vikshapa shakti. These three sins along with papas done in the three avastas. In shushupti we may have involuntary kicked someone, so you may even sin in the deep sleep state. And then the three sins done through words, mind or actions. These nine sins the maarjanam will remove in an individual. Aapo his shsthaa mayo-bhuvah, you are the source of joy. You are Ananda rupah. “O water you are nothing but the Lord, you are the source of all ananda”. The second mantra is taa na oorje dadhatana, you the waters should give us all nourishment (oorjam). By nourishment we should have the physical nourishment as well as mental nourishment in the form of values. Nourishment of the mind is samadi shatga sampathi. So may you bless us with all physical and mental nourishment not for worldly indulgence. No because mahe ranaaya chakshase…..chakshas means athma jnanam, ramaniyam means auspicious, beautiful, sacred. May you the waters bless us with the great and auspicious athma jnanam. What is the most auspicious nature in you? Yo vah-shivatamo rasaha, Water in the form of the Lord has the most auspicious juice (rasaha or essence which is nothing but Anandah)  and that Ananda we should attain tasya bhaajayateha …you, the water, make us shareholders. Let us also share the most auspicious (shivatama) ananda which is the essence of you. When? Idam. I am impatient and I cannot postpone it to the next janma. You see how the ideas are developed so wonderfully, first we asked for body-mind nourishment, which is jnana yogyatha. Then give jnanam and later give me the fruits of jnanam which is ananda. Give me fitness, give me knowledge, and give me ananda. This mantra will also help other brahmacharis who pursue other branches of study like mimasha and vedanta in gaining the knowledge also. And all this nourishment you must give me gradually according to my maturity just as a mother nourishes the baby by choosing the right food at the right time. Imagine giving muruku for a new born baby! When the baby is two months old, she feeds it accordingly. Six months old, and after two years the same milk will not do. Twenty years and still milk and it will not work. Similarly initially dharma nourishment, then afterwards virtues nourishment, thereafter jnanam nourishment, all those thing you, the water, know better. Here the beauty is Sandhya Devi is sthri lingam (feminine) and so is aapah the water. Therefore ushateeriva maataraha, ushateeriva means loving and caring as maata, the mother. Therefore my prayer is FEED US WITH NOURISHMENT like a LOVING MOTHER. There is another aspect here; sometimes a child refuses to eat. It does not know what to eat and when to eat. But the mother knows as she coaxes the child; one hand for the crow, one hand for the father, one hand of morsel to the grandmother, one morsel for the sparrow. So she nicely manages and likewise I am like that foolish child and I may not follow the dharma path, will not value the values from lack of knowledge, and if I am foolish you must find a method of nourishing me in spite of me. And that is why mother example is given. And so tasmaa arangamaama vaha, let me receive that ananda and moksha. Let me be fit to receive the moksha, may we have sadhana chattustaya sampathi. And yasya kshayaaya jinvatha…Ananda is so beautiful that everyone wants ananda. You might have seen that some elder may see wealth as a curse for it may lead to disputes in the family. Artha and even dharma are not ekantika purushartha, they are not universal longings. When kama is not a universal purushartha for when you are sick you will not long for sweets or entertainment. When you have hypertension you have to sacrifice pickle and salt. Artha, Kama, and dharma are not ekantika purushartha but everyone loves ananda. And you (referring to Bhagawan) also love Ananda and yasya anandaya nivasaya. For which ananda even you the lord crave (jinvatha). Even the gods who are craving for ananda, for that ananda may we become eligible to receive. And finally aapo janayathaa cha naha, O waters for our sake produce all this: I am giving you the contract to produce yogyatha, then produce jnanam and finally produce ananda. Like they give contract for conducting a marriage. You don’t have to do anything except land up with a suitcase. You just have to bring the bride and the groom while everything from the vadiyar, hall, food, flower arrangement are taken care off. Similarly I am giving you the moksha contract to you. You have bring eligibility in me, you have to bring knowledge for me, and for that if a guru is required you have to furnish, and then happiness. This prayer is a sincere and deep request of a seeker for purushartha sidhi. Then om bhoor-bhuvah-suvaha with this prana and vyakrithi the water is sprinkled. For each mantra one one sprinkle is done.  This is maarjanam and prokshanam mantra.

The next stage is the Praashanam mantra. Literally prashaanam means sipping. Taking waters in the hand, chant the mantra and then the mantra sanctified water is sipped. This praashanam mantra differs according to the time of sandhyavandanam. Maarjanam is common while this is different. In the morning we chant: suryaashcha maa manyushcha manyupatayashcha, manyukrutebhyaha, paapebhyo rakshantam. Yad-raatriyaa paapam-akaarsham. Manasaa vaacha hastaabhyaam. Padbyaam-udarena shisnyaa, raatris-tad-avalumpatu. Idam-aham maam-amruta-yonau. Soorye jyotishi juhomi svaaha. In this mantra two things are involved. First I purify myself. And then I offer myself to the Lord. Therefore it is a self-oblation as we say “svaaha”. It means I have to offer something and it is idam-aham maam-amrutha yonau.. I am offering myself, the purified self, to the lord. There are two meanings, the lower meaning is I dedicate myself to the lord. I have no will and my will is fulfilling God’s will. God’s will is dharmah and by following a dharmic life, a dedicated life of service, a dedicate life of nishkama karma. Therefore, I am dedicating myself to you. There is a higher philosophical connation also. When I purify myself of all the superimpositions, the anathma, then I become shudha athma. After purification from all sins I become Chittanyam as it were. Offering myself means there is no bheda, there is no separation between me and the lord. I am you and you are me. In this comes in the Gita fourth chapter, daivam evapare yajnam yoginah paryupasate, brahmagnav-apare yajnam yajnenaivopajuhvatic, some yogis perform sacrifices to the demigods. Others offer themselves into the fire of the Absolute. To offer myself stands for abeda jnanam. 

Now let me take individual mantras for meaning. May three gods protect us: suryaashcha, manyushcha manyupatayasha. Surya devata in two forms, in the form of sun god and second as Ishwara, the one who enlivens the whole creation. Previously we invoked the Lord in the waters, now we are invoking the lord in the sun. See how they are including the “sarvatma bhava” in us. Manyu means anger, here manyu stands for manyu devata, the god of anger. We have chosen “anger” as it is the cause of most sins. Forced by anger I think wrongly and curse others. Forced by anger I scorn others, shout at them and bodily injure them. This is manasa himsa, vachika himsa and kayika himsa. Anger is the root of all these three himsas. I may mentally curse my boss or an elder at least mentally if I cannot shout or beat them. The third god is manyupatayaha, the causes of anger which is raga, dvesha, kama etc. May raga devata, kama devata give me protection (rakshantham). May all the three gods protect me from pappebhyaha, from the sins done because of anger. Kama leads to bhoga and kroda leads to himsa. That is why during every avani avattam we say “kamo karasheith Manyura karashieth”. At least now “anger” leave me and that is why we are having this daily prayer to manyu devata. The paapam is divided into three. One is the future paapa, second is recent past paapa, and the third is the remote past paapa. May you protect me from future going to come anger! May you protect me from getting anger is the inference. Yad-raatriyaa pappam is the sin done in the last night, the recent past. With what instrument I commit these sins? Manasa ( I have done sins by thinking what I should not; by entertaining evil thoughts), vaacha (I have committed sins by uttering evil words), hastabhyam (by the hands), padyam (with the legs by going to a place one should not go in addition to kicking extra), udarena paapam. What sin the stomach can do? By eating what should not be eaten, eating the amount more than required, etc. And shishna stands for the sexual organ. Through all the instruments whatever pappam I have done in the night, may the raatri devata remove all those sins. More we shall see in the next class. Hari Om. 

Sandhyavandanam -2

Now let’s look at the meanings of the word “Sandhyah”. The first meaning is from the derivation “Sandhihi” which means junction. There are three junctions in a day: dawn between night and forenoon, noon between forenoon and afternoon, and dusk between evening and night. Accordingly the worship done during this Sandhya kalam, at the time of the three junctions. From this it is clear that “sandhyavandanam” (SV) is done three times a day – prathas sandhya, madhyam sandhya and sayam sandhya. Second meaning of “Sandhya” is the time which is the union of Jivatma and Paramatma. Which means during these junctions we are not supposed to do any other job, this is a time of worship. We don’t wish for any worldly relations during this except maintain or being conscious of our relation with the Lord. Ideally do no office work, no social work or family work must be done during those times except keep my appointment with the Lord. Therefore even if I don’t know SV ritual or if I have given up SV ritual, at that time I am supposed to do something religious. Like you can chant any sloka or visit a temple or at least read a Vedantic textbook like Gita or Upanishad. “Sandhya” is the junction between Ishwara and the individual.

            Another meaning is from the root “Dai Jnaney” meaning this is a time a person has to do dhyanam. So sandhya kalam means dhyana kalam. Which there are three times in a day an individual is supposed to do Ishwara dhyanam. Finally the fourth meaning, which is most important, that we are going to take is “sandhya” means “ishwara” himself. The one who is worshipped is called “Sandhya”. In this definition sandhya does not represent junction but represents the Lord himself who is worshipped in feminine form. Not as Ishwara but Ishwari. According to scriptures the Lord is defined as Maya Sahitam Brahman. So Sandhya Devi is none other Brahman with maya. This Sandhya Devi is the creator of the universe (jagat suthihi), maya thithatu nishkala (She is the controller of the universe and who is unconditioned by maya), and nishakala the pure and undivided Brahman, and Ishwarai kavala Shaktihi who is the Lord in the form of Shakti. She is both in the Shiva rupa and Shakti rupa. So Sandhya Devi is Maya Sahitam Brahman. And She is the source of thatra treyam or guna treyam. The worship of Sandhya Devi is called Sandhyavandanam.

            What are the pramanas or source of this puja? This SV is advocated in both Shuthi and Smrithi. It is“shroutha karma” and the shuthi mantra is Udyantham Asthanm Yanham, Adityam, Abhidhyayan. One should worship on rising sun and setting sun. And what does the person get? He gets sakalam bhatdram ashnuthey. That person gets all the auspiciousness like artha,  kama, dharma and above all moksha. Another famous shuthi pramana is “aha aha Sandhya Upasitha” that one should do SV daily. The Smrithi pramanam is “Sandhya triyam tu karthavyam thvamava Atma vidha sada.” Every dwija must do SV thrice a day. These are Atri Maharishi’s words. Until sacred thread ceremony one does not have these karmas but after upanayam one has to do them thrice a day.

            Now the next question is how do we worship this Sandhya Devi? And where do we worship this Sandhya Devi? Sadhya Devi is located in Savithra mandalam, Surya mandalam. The disc or orb is called mandalam. On the surya mandalam the sandhya devi is to be invoked. This is Sandhya worship on the sun. Since Sandhya Vandanam is done three times a day, the Sandhya Devi is seen in three different aspects. She is worshipped in three different forms and all of them in the surya mandalam. For each of this devata there is different name, different form, different colour, etc and three different dhyana slokas. The three names of Sandhya Devi is Gayatri in the morning, Savitri in the noon and Saraswathi in the evening. Remember all are Sandhya, Sandhya as Gayatri or Savitri or Saraswati depending on the time of worship.

Gayatri	Savitri	Saraswati
Kumari (young girl)	Yuvati (youth)	Vrudha (old)
Lohita (reddish complexion)	Sweta (white)	Shyamala (dark)
Ananda Swarupa	Sat Swarupa	Chit Swarupa
Rajasi	Tamasi	Satviki
Hamsa Vahini (Swan)	Vrusha Vahanam (bull)	Karkshya Vahana (Garuda)
Srishti Karthri	Laya Karthri	Sithi Karthri
Brahma rupa	Rudra Rupa	Vishnu rupa

All these three devathas are invoked in the surya mandalam and meditated upon.

            As I had said earlier the SV varies according varna and Veda. It is impossible to cover all the different SVs and so I will be taking Yajur veda for this discussion. The SV ritual is broadly classified into two portions. The first part is called “purvagam” or sandhyavandanam and the second is “uttaragam” which is gayatri japa.

            The purvagam consists of ten stages:

a)      Aachamanam

b)      Ganapathy Dhyanam

c)      Pranaayamah

d)     Sankalpah

e)      Maarjanam

f)       Jala Praarshanam

g)      Punar Maarjanam

h)      Arghya Pradanam

i)        Sandhyo Pasanam

j)        Adityadi Tharpanam.

Of these ten stages the first seven are only preparatory stages in the form of purification. The main parts of the purvagam are the last three: Arghya Pradanam, Sandhyo Pasanam, and Adityadi Tharpanam.

            We will take each stage one by one. Literally achamanam means “sipping water three times”. The purpose of achamanam is inner purification so that I become fit for worship. Before any puja we purify all materials doing “prokshanam” etc Likewise I must also be purified and fit to worship. The ordinary water is capable of removing impurities (physical malam) from the body but when the jalam is associated with mantra, it can remove inner impurities also. We sanctify the water by chanting the lord’s names. That is why in punyavachanam and other rituals they chant mantras to a bowl of water and that water is capable of purifying home. That is why during snanam (bath) agamarsha suktam is chanted so that,” O Lord let this not be just a physical snamam but remove the internal impurity also.” Any name of the Lord is okay but traditionally we chant the three names of Vishnu. Achyutaaya namaha, ananataaya namaha, and govindaaya namaha.  When we sip with these three mantras it is supposed to cleanse the inner heart. Therefore various names of the Lord is invoked on the body Kesava, Narayana, Madhava etc and the purpose is purification of the person. Some people also do a puja to prithivi devi to bless the asanam,” O Prithiva Devi may you bless this asanam so that I can sit in prayer without any distraction”.

            The second stage is Ganesha Dhyanam. The purpose is to satisfy Ganesha the Lord of Obstacles. We offer prayers to HIM so that the worship can performed without any obstacles. Vigneshwara can do two things: HE can give obstacles also and HE can remove obstacles too. Imagine you sit for SV and then there is a telephone call, or some guests would have come. This is a prayer before any worship and so is featured in the Sandhyavandanam.

Shukalaabaradharam Vishnum Shashivarnam Chaturbhujam, prasannavadanam dhyaayet, sarvavighna upashaantaya.

The purpose is clearly mentioned as Sarvighna Upashaantaye, for the temporary cessation of all obstacles. Here the word “Vishnu” means “Ganesha”. The word Vishnu means all pervading God, so too is Vinayaka. He is worshipped by all and everywhere. Philosophically also being Brahman and looking at the world also since Ganesha is worshipped everywhere. Ganapathy is one God where there is no Shaivite or Vishnuvite, nowadays worshipping vinayaka is becoming popular everywhere. What kind of Vishnu? Shukalaa Ambaram dharam, wearing white clothes and shashivarnam, HIMSELF fair complexion, endowed with four hands (Chaturbhujam), and most important is prasannavadanam (a smiling face), we have forgotten to be pleasant faced because our burdens have become so much. So at least when we see “Vinayaka” we can smile a little, and to that Lord Ganesha I meditate upon for the removal of all obstacles. This is Ganesha Dhyanam.

            Then the third part is Pranaayama. It is very useful for quietning the mind. We have a physical personality in the form of annamaya kosa, we have a prana personality called pranamaya kosa and a mental personality in manomaya kosa. The pranamaya kosa is sandwiched between annamaya and manomaya and therefore the regulation of prana will influence both body and the mind. During SV pranayama is done for emotional tranquility. Shantihi. Just as a jalam (a net) curbs the movement of a bird, prana curbs the movements of the extroverted mind. There are some people who use pranayama only for health benefits, this is called ‘agarba pranayama”. This is pranayama without any mantra. Then there is the second type of pranayama called “sagarba pranayama” in which mantras are chanted. When pranayama is done without mantra the mind becomes body conscious, health conscious and it will increase “theyhatha” budhi. One will always be thinking of body health (say weight problem). But when it is done with chanting our mind will be with the thoughts of the Lord. Literally the word “aayamaha” means regulation and pranayaamah means prana regulation. Breathing regulation. Here prana refers to pancha prana: prana, apana, samana, udana, and vyana. We are directly regulating prana but it will influence internally too like apana (the execratory system), vyana is circulatory system, samana is digestive system and udana is reversing system. We are regulating only breathing but the whole physiological system is regulated. So if any people have indigestion or over digestion or constipation the practice of pranayama will benefit. Pranayama by itself is a big Science. It is used to acquire extraordinary powers also. Kundalini Shakti and all that come under pranamaya only. Raising the mooladara and going through the chakras etc but in Sandhyavandanam our aim is not that. We are not here for extraordinary and miraculous powers for in Sandhyavandanam pranayam we are only doing deep breathing – a deep inhalation, a short retention and then a deep exhalation is prescribed here. In SV this pranayama can be done three times or ten times according to one’s convenience. This pranayama is done with this mantra: on bhoohu om bhuvaha ogm suvaha om mahaha om janaha om tapaha ogm satyam is one part: pranava and vyakriti. Pranava is OM and these seven bhoohu, bhuvaha, suvaha, mahaha, janaha, tapaha are called vyakritis. And the second part Om tat savitur varenyam bhargo devasya dheemahi dhiyo nan prachodayat is Gayatri mantra. And Om aapo jyoteeraso amrutham brahma bhoor bhuvas suvarom is called Gayatri Shiras. Therefore pranayama consists of four parts: pranava, vyakrithi, gayatri and gayatri shiras.

            The word Om means Ishwarah. When I chant Om I am supposed to think of Sandhya Devi. And bhoo, bhuvaha and etc refer to the sapta lokas. The seven upper lokas are mentioned the seven lower worlds are implied. We use the prefix Om to each to show that the Lord alone is in each loka. Sarvam Vishnumayam jagat or Sarvam Shiva mayam jagat or here Sarvam Sandhya mayam jagat. We can see how this sandhyavandanam ritual is divinizing the world. To look at the world as Ishwara’s manifestations. This is almost like Vishwarupam or Vibhuti yoga etc. I will analyze Gayatri mantra later but I will give the meaning here: I meditate upon the light of the sun which activates our intellects. And the last portion the gayatri shiraz says the same thing: Ishwarah is in everything. Om appha means all waters like rivers, all lights, jyotihi, like Surya, Chandra, Nakshatra, or Agnihi are Ishwarah. Rasaha means nourishment or essence contained in all the food. See we get bhumi tatvam, Agni tatvam and Jala tattvam. That is also what? Ishwarah. Amrutham Brahma is food of the devas. Even the god’s food is Ishwarah. Rasa and Amrutha represent prithvi tattvam, while brahman in this context is means vayu tattvam and akasha tattvam as both are all pervading. Then bhur bhuva and suva represent the three lokas or three avasthas jagrat, swapna, and shuspti. All of them are nothing but Brahman or Ishwara alone. The purpose of pranayama is I meditate on Ishwara who is everything. When a person does pranayama one part is used for inhalation, another part for retention and another part for exhalation according to one’s capacity.

            Then the fourth stage which is Sankalpah, taking the resolve. This has the benefit of auto-suggestion. I am telling my mind that for the next 15 or 20 minutes don’t bother me with anything even if the skies were to fall on my head. We have to give strong auto-suggestion otherwise the mind will not be in the job. Sankalpa serves as a report to the Lord; please make a note in your book that I am doing my karma. It is in this sankalpa we are going to mention whether the fruits of this ritual should be used for material purposes or spiritual growth. It is here we show our motive. For material purposes we ask for pasu, dhanam, putra, labham chatta samvasaram, dirge ayuwho etc but here we say: my motive is different. Mamopaatta samasta durita-kshaya dvaaraa, the whole purpose is chitta shudi. This makes the Sandhyavandanam ritual nishkama karma. The exact meaning of the sankalpaha we will see in the next class. Hari Om. 

Sandhyavandanam -1

There is a Sanskrit verse that talks about the various stages of life which every Vedic follower goes through. janmana jayate sudrah, samskarat dwij uchchte, veda pathnat bhavet viprah, brahma janati iti brahmanah. When a person is born, that is in the beginning stage, he is a sudrah only. Sudrah means prakrutha purushah – one who lives according to his nature. One who lives according to his raga and dvesha, one who lives by his instincts. For all practical purposes he is an animal-man. Man in the physical sense from anatomy but growth wise only an animal, one who lives by his likes and dislikes. His life is not governed by any discipline but he’s a free life and licentious. Undisciplined and unrefined life. That is why he is a “prakruthi purusha” and not a “samskrita purusha”. Vedas allows a person to live a shudra life but it only requests that he does not remain a shudra throughout the life. One can be shudra until the intellect is sufficiently developed, say for 8 or 9 or 10 years. But after that one has to go beyond shudratvam and enter the second stage.

              The second stage is Dwija and it is karman uchchte. He is a dwija because of his karma, disciplined actions. Refined behaviour and cultured conduct. This is an improvement from Shudra stage where a person is governed by raga-dvesha while for a dwija it is governed by dharma. I don’t do what I want to do but I perform those actions I ought to do. I don’t do what I like but I do what is the right. I don’t avoid what I dislike, I avoid what is wrong. When my life is governed by dharma, I become a dwija, samskrita purusha or a cultured person. How do you determine what is right and wrong for those are highly subjective. Like onion eating, for someone it is the only thing to be done and they quote medical journals also in support. We say tasmat Veda pramana che, karya karyu vyavestito. Whenever there is a controversy we go to court, for us the only court is “Sastras”, scriptures, the vedas. Whatever is “vihitam” is karyam and whatever is “nishadam” is akaryam. Those actions that are prescribed in the sastram are to be done, and those actions that are prohibited must be avoided. Therefore a dwija is one who is governed by the vidhi nishada.

          But there is a problem here. When a person goes from shudra stage to dwija stage there are a lot of disciplines, dos and donts. But he does not know the meaning or the purpose behind these disciplines, the principles behind it. So it becomes mechanical, I do them because parents say so or the scriptures say so. I do these actions from the pressures and commandments from outside. These actions don’t come out of convictions. Therefore such a discipline is a vague discipline, vacillating discipline, tottering discipline. So when anyone does “parihasa” of me, I feel inferiority complex. So when somebody questions I feel ashamed as I don’t know the answers. Because what I do, I myself am not convinced. Such actions don’t last long for there are a lot of mental conflicts and doubts. But if these disciplines have to be assimilated then one should know the meaning and principle behind them. And that is possible only by the study of scriptures. Dwijata follows these disciplines without knowing about them, while a vipra follows with knowledge, with understanding and without any conflict. Now you should not ask: why we should not reverse the process; first understanding and then adherence in practice. This we don’t accept because disciplines are habits that are formed when one is young in age. Discipline must be instilled in the earliest stage possible, right from getting up early in the morning. It is a habit that must be formed at the early stage, here understanding is not possible as the intellect may not be developed enough to grasp. Therefore I can’t teach meaning first, I have to teach external disciplines first. You become a dwija first by practising the prescribed actions even mechanically. It is okay to be dwija when young but sooner one has to know the meaning and spirit behind them. Viprah follows the disciplines and he understands the scriptures – an assimilated discipline and it is born out of convictions. This is the third stage.

            The last stage is brahmano brahma vedah. In the third stage a person follows “dharma dharma” and over time those can become a subtle bondage. It can be a golden shackle and a person has to go beyond dharma. But one must understand that the journey beyond dharma is only at an internal level. This is an enhanced understanding but at the external level, dharma would continue to be there. So one must follow dharma till death, there is no leeway here. One who has gone beyond the third level is called a “brahmanah”. By knowing the ultimate reality one goes beyond dharma. Only upon knowing Brahman one’s life is fulfilled.                

These are the four stages: shudrah, dwija, viprah and brahmanah. But here we are only concerned at the second and third stage. But what makes the change is change from indiscipline to discipline, and the study of scriptures. This transformation from the first to the second stage is done symbolically in our culture through a ceremony called “upanayana samskara”. After upanayanam a person life is governed by Vedic disciplines. A person is taken away from the mother who gave birth to the animal-man to the Vedas, the second mother, who has to give birth to man-man. This is symbolized by the sacred thread that I am bound by the three Vedas. I live no longer by what I like or dislike but my life is governed by the injunctions in the Vedas. Since this is the second birth for the animal-man must die to give birth to the man-man (from indiscipline to discipline) that is why he is called a dwija, the second born, the twice born. For the second birth the mother is the Veda matha as Vedas converts him into a refined person through her vidhi and nishada. And later through her teaching.

             And if a mother has to give birth a father is required. The teacher is the acharya or the guru or the teacher. Just as a mother can give birth only with a father, Veda can convey its message only through a guru. Matrugreti jananam divitiyam mounji bandanat; airasya matha gayatri pitu tu acharya uchchate! The local mother gives the first birth, for the second birth after upanayanam Gayatri is the mother and Acharya is the father. Gayatri represents the Veda matha and that is highlighted as in the second birth. Here in the upadesa the father of the child is the acharya himself. He becomes a symbolic for he himself is often ignorant! Thus upanayanam marks the transformation from first birth to the second birth. It also becomes the purificatory right, a sacrament, for the study of scriptures. The scriptures are so holy that one has to be relatively holy even to begin to study the. Like in a temple before installation of the deities lot of purification rituals like punyavajanam, abhisekam, japa, parayanam etc; just like we enter a house after grahapravashem (housewarming ceremony), if we want Veda to enter our body and mind we must be yogyatha. When a person is a shudrah, he is a kamachara (one who lives as per his desire), kamavadha (he will speak whatever comes to his mind, all those unprintable words), kamabakshah (eating anything at any time). Such a person has no right to hear or chant the Vedas. After upanayam an individual gives up kamacharah; he takes to whatever his prescribed in the Vedas. His words should become decent, anyone should be able to record him at anytime. Thereafter only he becomes samskrita, veda adnayanam. Thus upanayam serves as a purification purpose also.             

          As we have seen once a person becomes dwija his life is governed by Vedic teachings. What is the lifestyle the scriptures prescribe? I would say it involves three important factors.

a) It involves certain attitudes, how I look upon things and beings in creation? How I look upon my parents, my teachers, my elders. It involves having healthy attitudes or bhavana. Like matru devobhava, pitru devobhavah, acharya devobhavah, aditi devobhavah. You might you noticed that when our feet accidentally touches a paper, we touch it with our hands reverentially. For us paper means writing, writing means information, information means knowledge and knowledge is Saraswathi. These are attitudes that are always with you, not only for a particular time or occasion.

            b) The second important thing of following sastram is that certain values or virtues that must be followed. Like Ahimsa, Satyam, Astheyam, brahmacharyam, aparigraha etc. Say yamas and niyams

            c) The third aspect of a Vedic lifestyle is certain actions must be done, certain karmani.

In Sanskrit attitude is bhavana, virtues is gunah, and action is karma. Therefore we have to develop some bhavanas, develop some gunas and do some actions. In these talks I am not going to bhavana and guna but going to karmani.

      

Vedic injunctions include doing karmas and these can be broadly classified into five: Nityakarma, Naimittika karma, Nishitha karma, Kamya karma and Parischita karma. Nitya karma means compulsory regular activity. It can be daily or even monthly as in tharpanam, once in four months as chaturmasya karma…nityam means compulsory. Naimitikam means compulsory but conditional karma. On certain conditions like grahana karma, it may come in a month or may not come at all for a year. Then Kamya karma are those activities to fulfill desires. Nishitha karmas are those actions that are prohibited and they must be completely eschewed and avoided. It is mentioned so that we know what we should not do. Lastly we have parischitam which are compensatory, as pariharam. These are five kinds of karmas as part of Vedic rituals, in addition to attitudes and values. I am emphasizing because they are a lot of people who give importance to nitya and naimitha karmas – they do sandhyavanadam, wear rudraksha, do regular chanting at the temple –but they don’t have values. Minus attitude and values, the vedic lifestyle is incomplete.

         I shall now discuss about nityakarma. There are three aspects bhavana, guna and karmas; then in karmas we have five kinds and now we are zeroing into Nitya karma. One such nitya karma is the famous sandhyavandanam.

          In dealing with this subject I am going to give importance to meanings and thartparnyam part. I am not taking the anusttam part here. I am doing so because Sandhyavandanam varies according to a person’s varna and a person’s veda. Brahmana Sandhyavandanam (SV) is different, Kshthriya’s SV is different, Vishya’s SV is different. Rig vedees SV is different, Yajurvedees is different, and so is Samavedees. And if I have to talk about anusttanam to a group I cannot do them for there all types of people here. So I am going to give thatparyam or the principle behind SV.

        Now what is benefit of doing SV rites or rituals? According to the Vedas all nitya karmas must be done purely for the sake of spiritual upliftment. They are not kamya karmas and so we should never ask,” what benefit will I get by doing Sandhyavandanam”? Therefore SV must be performed without expecting any material benefit. If I do it “nishkamatah” what will I get? (laughs). But anyway Vedas lists a few benefits of doing SV. It says we will get spiritual progress, chitta shudihi (purity of mind), chitta nischalyam, chitta ekagraha (concentration of the mind), bhagavat anugrahah, chitta vishalatha (expansion of the mind), and grace of the Lord. Therefore the primary benefit of SV is spiritual progress, which is why it is called samskara karma. It refines me spiritually. Even though we are not supposed to ask for material things, it will come without asking. We call it “avantara phallam” (byproducts). In the SV mantra we are asking the lord for long life, we asking for health, we are asking for prosperity, we are asking for purity and ultimately we are asking for moksha, for jnanam. So everything is embedded in sandhyavandanam. All these are included in these mantras. Even though we don’t desire for them, they are all bound to come. Because of Ishwara Anugraham.          

The very performance of SV gives certain results. First it gives health and discipline. Because one of the indiscipline we all have is laziness. The first shatru, enemy, for us is alasyam. Let me sleep a little longer, let me have coffee in the bed, or let me read a newspaper in the bed or on Sundays I will never get up! So laziness or tamo guna is our worst enemy for spiritual progress. So to remove tamo guna we prescribe rituals. Some are so lazy they will ask: should do these rituals “manasically” (in the mind). Then he will do manasa puja lying down in the bed! No, kayika or physical activity is very very important to break the tamo guna. This is the first benefit is to break free from indiscipline. The second benefit is pranayama and japa are involved, there is improvement in physical health too. Pranayama has been proved to be good for both the body and the mind. Nowadays so many people are teaching pranayam as a therapy. SV gives psychological benefits from emotional stress. All our newspapers and magazine talk about combating stress and tension. Now so many institutes are coming up for teaching us relaxation and you have to dole out a lot of money. They will not relax the fees but promise relaxation to the mind! (laughs). Instead of paying money to learn relaxation doing SV is the best method for relaxation as it involves pranayama that is beneficial to both body and mind. Pranayama kosa is between annamaya and manomaya kosa. Therefore once pranayama is disciplined the benefit goes to annamaya at the body level and partially to the manomaya. So this is a relaxation exercise, tension releasing exercise, and there will be a lot of psychological benefits. But very careful, we are not doing SV for that purpose. You should not say,” I will do SV for relaxation” for it is the byproduct. The primary objective is spiritual growth and spiritual progress alone. There is physical, psychological and spiritual progress for anyone who does SV regularly.

              Now we will come to the meaning of the word “Sandhyavandanam”. Vandanam means ‘worship” literally it means “namaskara”. In this context it means worship but sometimes vandanam is replaced by “upasanam”. Sandhya Upasanam means meditation. So vandanam means both worship and meditation as both are involved. The word “Sandhya” has two meanings. One meaning is a “particular time”. Like in Tamil they say Sandhya Valai for vala is a Sanskrit word. ..nala valai or ketta valai etc. It is derived from the word “Sandhihi” which means “junction.” Or “union”. Sandhya means time of union, or that relates to union of two things. The sandhi between night and forenoon is the first junction called “dawn”, the second junction is between forenoon and afternoon and that is “noon” and finally the third junction between evening and night that is “dusk”. So the three junctions in a day are dawn, noon and dusk. So the time belonging to the sandees for it varies according to places and seasons. In summer it can be 5:45 or in the winter at 7:00, in some places like Dwarka it is 8:00 also. The first definition of Sandhya is the time associated with the junctions. So Sandhyavandanam is a ritual done at the time of three junctions at dawn , noon and dusk. Then there is another perspective to Sandhi; it is the junction between the devotee and the Lord. Therefore Sandhya is the time of union between the devotee and the lord. Or the time of appointment with the Lord. Now sadly the God appointment time as become TV appointment time! There is another meaning which we will see in the next class. Hari Om.